DOK Leipzig has revealed its competition lineup for the 68th edition, completing the 2025 film programme. Information on all the films and XR works at this year’s festival, along with their screening dates and times, will be published on the website today. Ticket will go on sale at the same time.
A total of 78 films, including 30 world premieres, are competing for Golden and Silver Doves across the four competitions.
“Most of the films sent to us in the post-pandemic period have dealt with family situations and inner thoughts. This year, however, numerous documentaries and animated films have returned to looking outward,” says festival director Christoph Terhechte. “They address the threat of environmental destruction, resistance to political violence, the fight against exploitation, and strategies for human resilience under extreme circumstances.”
Of the nine feature-length films in the International Competition Documentary Film, five will have their world premiere and three their international premiere in Leipzig. These documentaries span a number of countries, including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. Six of the feature documentaries were helmed by emerging directors. Srđan Kovačević’s “The Thing to Be Done” looks at an office for workers’ rights in Slovenia that advocates on behalf of people who have been cheated by companies. “The Red Moon Eclipse” by Caroline Guimbal explores questions relating to life and its end. In “Peacemaker”, Ivan Ramljak looks at the beginnings of the war between Serbia and Croatia and a chief of police in Slavonia who was determined to mediate between the conflicting parties. The films by Jennifer Chiu (“Clan of the Painted Lady”) and Gregor Brändli (“Elephants & Squirrels”) emphasise the value of cultures at risk of being forgotten. In “A Scary Movie”, director Sergio Oksman spends the summer with his son in an abandoned hotel. Together, they indulge their shared fascination with the uncanny. Three films explore the destructive impact of humans on their habitat. In “Green Desert”, Meliza Luna Venegas turns her lens on her native region in Chile, a former natural paradise now threatened by forest fires. Serge-Olivier Rondeau's “The Inheritors” reflects on mass consumerism and environmental pollution by observing a population of seagulls on a Canadian garbage dumpsite. Meanwhile, Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s “Melt” captures the imperilled natural forces of ice and snow, preserving monumental images for future generations.
The eleven short films in competition encompass a wide range of themes and creative styles. David Shongo and Randa Maroufi, among other directors, return to the festival with their new works. Other films explore themes of sex education and intimacy, migration, and experiences of sexual abuse (see the list of films).
Five feature-length films are competing for a Golden Dove in the International Competition Animated Film, including three films by young filmmakers. Among the countries of production are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Mexico. Giovanni Columbus’s “Balentes” uses brush drawings to tell the story of two friends who rescue horses slated for military deployment at the start of World War II. Based on hand-drawn images, Félix Dufour-Laperrière’s “Death Does Not Exist” follows the protagonists who choose a more radical form of activism, attacking wealthy landowners. Yet their plan goes awry. Ryuya Suzuki's “Jinsei” follows a 100-year journey of an unnamed man, navigating a life marked by unexpected success, modern societal pressures, and personal struggles. In the cut-out animation “The Great History of Western Philosophy” by Aria Covamonas, the characters, including Plato, Mao, Nietzsche, Lacan, and Mickey Mouse, appear seemingly at random – an homage to Dadaist collage art. In “Endless Cookie”, Seth Scriver and Peter Scriver visualise their story with originality and a great deal of wit: one of the half-brothers lives in Toronto, the other in Shamattawa, a community of the Indigenous Cree people.
The competition features 23 short films that reflect on wartime experiences, probe power structures and the supernatural, explore intimacy and bodily transformation, and grapple with the complexities of being different (see the list of films).
The German Competition Documentary Film presents eight feature-length films, seven of which will celebrate their world premiere and one an international premiere at the festival. Six of the documentaries were directed by emerging filmmakers. In “Sediments”, Laura Coppens asks her grandfather about his past – under National Socialism, the GDR, and in the post-reunification period – and, not least, about morality and personal responsibility. In “White Smoke over Schwarze Pumpe”, Martin Gressmann joins Peter Badel on his 1991 film shoot in Lusatia. The unemployment and lack of prospects following reunification continue to resonate today. Based on a story of a young teacher, Yulia Lokshina’s “Active Vocabulary” examines how the Russian state uses schools to further its own agenda. Karoline Rößler’s “Intersection – It’s Political” focuses on six people who recount their experiences with discrimination as a result of playing a game on their phones. In “A Jewish Problem”, Ron Rothschild examines the history of his family, shaped by a complex relationship with the conflict in the Middle East. In “Nonna”, Vincent Graf visits his grandmother, who moved back to Italy some 30 years ago while her family remained in Germany. Ole Elfenkaemper and Kathrin Seward's “Holler for Service” portrays a queer owner of a hardware store in Georgia, the USA, who treats her conservative customers with kindness. The protagonist in Patience Nitumwesiga’s “The Woman Who Poked the Leopard” strikes a different note: Ugandan feminist Stella Nyanzi spent years using provocative means to oppose incumbent head of state Yoweri Museveni. She now lives in Berlin but continues to publish political poetry, most recently releasing her poetry collection “Im Mundexil” in March.
The competition also presents 12 short films that recount the experiences of refugees, offer sensitive portrayals of loneliness and emotional pain, and record memories: of disappearing rivers, of state-enforced violence and policies of assimilation, and of the aftermath of colonisation. The line-up includes works by returning filmmakers, including Rainer Komers and Leonard Volkmer (see the list of films).
The Audience Competition features ten feature-length films, all of which have premiered at renowned international festivals, including the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (Miro Remo's “Better Go Mad in the Wild”), Cannes (Namir Abdel Messeeh's “Life After Siham”) and Sundance (Amber Fares' “Coexistence, My Ass!” and Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni's “Cutting Through Rocks”).
Suzannah Herbert’s “Natchez” turns the camera on the US' southern states, following black tour guides in a small town as they try to fill in the gaps in a history that has long been romanticised. In Zaradasht Ahmed's “The Lions by the River Tigris”, residents of Mosul, Iraq, seek to rebuild and preserve their culture following the occupation by ISIS. Olga Gibelinda's “Queens of Joy” accompanies three drag queens in Ukraine as they juggle fundraising efforts to support the army with demands for queer equality. In Richard Ladkani's “Yanuni”, Brazilian activist Juma Xipaia leads the fight for her Indigenous people's rights and denounces environmental destruction caused by illegal gold mining. Anastasiya Miroshnichenko's “Welded Together” follows a young welder who, having grown up without the warmth of her family, returns to live with her alcoholic mother. Ole Juncker’s “Take the Money and Run” investigates a controversial case in the art world: Danish artist Jens Haaning took 74,000 euros from a museum, regarding the stunt a performative work of art. The winner of the Golden Dove in the Audience Competition will be chosen by a jury of five fans of the festival representing the audiences in Leipzig.
For the complete programme, including dates and tickets: DOK Leipzig Programme 2025
Competition films at a glance: Film lists competitions 2025
Information about the juries 2025: Awards & juries
